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Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party begins in 1972, 6 years into the Cultural Revolution in China.[3] Ling Chang is a nine-year-old girl whose parents are doctors which are part of the upper class society in China. When Ling's father, Dr. Chang, had free time, he would teach Ling English and they would listen to American radio shows such as Voice of America. Dr. Chang's colleague from the United States, Dr. Smith, kept close contact with Dr. Chang in the time before the Cultural Revolution via mail.

A political officer, Comrade Li, moves into part of the Chang's apartment room and conducts his operations from there. With the presence of Comarade Li next door, the Changs were forced to speak about controversial topics in hushed voices and listen to the American radio underneath blankets as well as displaying a revolutionary mindset through putting up pictures of Chairman Mao Zedong and assisting Comrade Li. Shortly after the officer moved in, the father of the Chang's neighbor family is taken away and branded as an antirevolutionary. After this, Ling was fearful her father would be taken as well. Shortly thereafter, the neighbor's mother was taken away as well and their son, Niu, was forced to join the Red Guards.

Meanwhile, Ling is constantly being harassed at school by children of the working class who believe Ling is bourgeois; Ling's clothing and long hair are constantly used as a means to make her look bourgeois. Ling's family were marked as bourgeois sympathizers and her father was removed from surgery and was forced to work as a janitor at the hospital.

One day, Ling and her father rescue a counter-revolutionary writer who was trying to commit suicide by drowning himself. Because Ling and Dr. Chang rescued him, Niu and his gang, the Red Guard, came and arrested her father for being an antirevolutionary.

Ling spends nights alone by herself during the night because her mother worked nights in the hospital and her father was no longer there. She became old enough to take over shopping for her mother and began to haggle and barter for food bought with ration tickets and by any possible means. One day at school the teacher is thrown out and Gao, one of the young revolutionaries, tries to cut her hair. Ling retaliates him with her schoolbag and gets away unscathed.

She then receives news that her father will be operating on Gao’s father at the hospital. As Ling attempts to sneak into the compound, the guards catch her and throw her into a room with mats that are infected with lice. Ling sleeps on them and gets lice infested in her hair. The next morning, the gardener comes into the room and let her go. When Ling got back to her apartment, her mother had to cut all of her hair.

Chairman Mao dies in 1976, but his death does not bring an end to the bleak lives of the people. Instead different revolutionary factions begin fighting with each other. Jiang Qing, Mao’s wife, is arrested and accused of plotting to overthrow the government. A few weeks later, Ling is forced by Comarade Li into a public apology to Gao. However, before further punishment is inflicted on Ling, Comrade Li is arrested as a revolutionary criminal for his association with Chairman Jiang Qing. At the same time, Ling's father is released and Ling, her mother, and Dr. Chang go home together.

Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party was generally well received among critics[4] for its vivid portrayal of life for the aristocracy in the cultural revolution[5] and has won numerous awards of excellence in literature.